The First Amendment and What It Gets Us

Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

A friend of mine linked, on facebook, to an article in the Business Insider about a statue of Baphomet proposed by The Satanic Temple for the grounds of the Oklahoma state Capitol. Scary-looking thing, in my opinion, but a spokesperson for The Satanic Temple explained: people will be able to sit on it--the very lap of the devil!--to think and find inspiration...

...if they can't think and find inspiration just beside Baphomet, I reckon, at the Ten Commandments monument.

The Satanic Temple says it's a First Amendment issue: that Baphomet should be allowed on the grounds of the state Capitol just like the Ten Commandments, that what's fair is fair.

Surely this is a sick joke, I thought, but (although the story is too hot to have even hit Snopes), it doesn't seem to be so. The Internet is plumb eat up with the news.

I know you're just dying to know what I think, so I'm going to tell you.

The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion. Your religion, yes, and everyone else's, too. It guarantees the freedom of words: yours and everyone else's, just the same.

The First Amendment might protect Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, but it also protects those who say they don't want chicken with a side order of Cathy's belief system.

The First Amendment might protect Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, but it also protects those who say they don't want to hear what he has to say, anymore. (I guess he gets to keep his show, after all, so they can just turn the channel.)

And I know you don't want to hear this, but those who oppose Christianity learn so much from so many Christ followers. "First Amendment! First Amendment! FirstAmendmentFirstAmendment!" We take our perfect Savior--the one who suffered and bled and died because God so loved the world (John 3:16) and because He isn't willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)--and use Him as a weapon, calling it our constitutional right.

I tell you this as a sold-out follower of Christ: there are times on facebook and in the blogosphere that I feel as though my very own Jesus is being crammed down my very own throat: "You'll take Him, and You'll take Him this way (with a piece of camo-wrapped chicken), and if you don't like it, you don't deserve a place in the USA, let alone in heaven."

If I--again, a sold-out follower of Christ--feel a little like I might choke or vomit...if I feel a little angry (or a lot, like I'd rather like to punch someone in the face), how do you suppose a non-believer feels?

Brothers and sisters, courtesy of the First Amendment, enjoy that mosque near Ground Zero. Enjoy that satanic statue on the grounds of the Oklahoma state Capitol.

Or maybe, instead, just take a step back and ask yourself: for what are you fighting? Are you fighting for souls? Is the Great Commission foremost in your mind? And if so, are you expressing that in the most effective way?

Duck Dynasty and the Phil Robertson Dilemma

My facebook feed is one Phil Robertson post after the other, and fact is: my facebook feed says more about me--my particular circle of friends, my interests--than it does about society. (Everyone's facebook feed is unique.)

Many of my facebook friends love Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty (if you don't, I beg your patience just a moment longer), and no surprise. I've lived in the south most of my life, and many of my people are camo-wearing Baptists. The Robertsons are reality stars to whom my people can relate, and many of them are riled up over Phil's suspension.

They're posting about the First Amendment. They're criticizing writer Drew Magary, GQ, and A&E. They're wondering why it seems like people in the LGBT community can say whatever they like without consequence. They're wondering why it seems like Pat Robertson (of The 700 Club) can say whatever he likes without consequence. They're wondering all sorts of things, and I had to walk away because my head hurt. I felt like a bunch of people were yelling in there.

Here's what I think. Again, wherever you stand, I beg your patience. I think--just like every other Christian I've ever met, including myself--Phil is a sloppy servant of Jesus. Jesus has used Phil, anyway, and will likely continue to do so. Phil will be able to reach people whom others can't.

Phil may have just rendered himself useless in terms of reaching unsaved African Americans and unsaved people in the LGBT community. At least, if I were African American or of a non-heterosexual orientation, I can assure you: it would be over between Phil and me.

I can almost hear some of you saying: "But Phil was just speaking to his experience in Pre-Civil-Rights-Era Louisiana." Okay, but Phil's experience was pret-ty durn limited to have made such a blanket (ignorant) statement about an entire group of people to which he doesn't even belong.

And I can almost hear some of you saying: "But Phil was just speaking out about sin, and a sin is a sin." Okay, but what I know for sure is that--even if a sin is a sin to God--a sin is not a sin in society, or among people. People are comfortable comparing one sin to another (homosexuality and bestiality, for example) so long as they're guilty of neither, but are you personally willing to place yourself in the same category as a baby rapist because you experienced a fleeting moment of jealousy over your sister's new purse? Be fair.

Perhaps you're thinking: "But Phil wasn't comparing. He was just listing sin." Okay, but I can see easily how people in the LGBT community would perceive differently. Can't you?

Regardless of Phil's intentions--and I'm willing, personally, to give him the benefit of the doubt--he was sloppy. He allowed the interview. He said what he said. And you know what? People will and should be held accountable for what they say and how they say it. Phil's neither dead nor in prison. He has a lot of money, a loving family, a huge fan base, and (regardless of his sloppiness) the love of the Lord. Phil's First Amendment rights don't guarantee his permanent reign as a reality star, but you know what? He'll be okay.

And I'll tell you something else: if Phil loves the Lord as much as he says he does, he doesn't want his predicament to detract from your celebration of Jesus's birth. Get Phil off your pedestal and put Jesus up there; He won't let you down. A human will, and every time.